District Magistrate Barton

Using her finger, Pawn slowly and methodically carved various symbols into the stone wall in front of her. Her eyes and the index finger which she carved with, gave off a silver glow as she did so. The symbols glowed silver as well.

She was currently in her mansion's single-room basement. It was mostly empty, other than the eight pillars which supported the mansion above, and the spiral stair case at the room's centre which connected to it.

Many hours passed in this manner...

Upon finishing the last symbol, the one which completed the sequence which spanned the entire perimeter of the room, only then did she stop.

She then dropped to her knees and immediately began gasping for air, the silver aura vanishing from her body.

"...Man that was tough," she complained, "enchanting demon realm materials with celestial magic is no joke, it seems."

She then withdrew a few celestial coins from her inventory. They glowed with a similar light to the one she had previously possessed, celestial silver.

Pawn tightened her grip around them and slowly the glow was absorbed, gradually replaced by a darker, more crimson glow.

"That's better," she said while storing her bracer, causing her appearance to revert to that of a celestial. She then gripped her ring of demonic nobility which kept suspended from her neck, and whispered something into it.

Moments later, Ash descended the staircase.

"You called?" She inquired, the ring she wore giving off a slight glow, which slowly faded.

She then paused, noticing something.

"...This room feels strange," she stated, slight confusion evident from her expression, "... why is there no demonic energy present here?"

Pawn smiled proudly.

"I'm a support celestial, after all," she gloated, showing off the crimson coins before storing them in her inventory.

"Of course I know a few utility enchantments to ward off all that prickly demonic energy," declared the celestial.

She then withdrew a handful of her celestial silver coins and released the energy from them. A thick aura of silver was released from them, permeating the entirety of the room.

Pawn took a deep breath as Ash recoiled.

"...the air feels cold... and itchy, like it's is made of coarse sandpaper," muttered the demon, "...is this what demonic energy feels like to you?"

Pawn half-nodded.

"Sort of," she replied, "though it's hot rather than cold, for me at least."

The celestial stretched her tattered wings as she took another deep breath.

"I think I'll make this my base of operations from now on," she stated, withdrawing a desk, bed, and various other supplies as she spoke.

Ash nodded.

"You are a slumlord now, after all," stated the demon, "I suppose living in a basement kind of goes with the territory."

Pawn's wings immediately drooped in response to the snarky remark.

"Leave my slum out of this," she retorted, "it won't be a slum for long, regardless."

Ash inquisitively tilted her head as Pawn gave her a smile.

"It'll be the greatest slum in the demon realm," added the celestial cheerfully. She then returned her bracer to her wrist and gave a mischievous smile.

Ash looked unimpressed.

'That's still a slum, though?' Thought the demon, however, she merely gave an awkward smile in response rather than saying so.

Roughly an hour later Pawn and Ash were elsewhere, walking together through the streets of Pawn's district, towards a building at her district's centre.

Unexpectedly, to Pawn, at least, Pawn's house was not actually located in her district, but in the essential district, along with all the other lords' mansions and a few government buildings.

The duo took note of various things they saw along the way. Ash even began making a list of the issues which seemed most prominent.

Ash promptly put it away as they reached the steel door of the building, however. It was marked 'District Magistrate Barton,' and upon discovering it to be locked, knocked at its surface a few times.

Nothing happened.

She knocked again, louder this time.

"Distinct lord Pawn is present, open up!" She ordered.

The door remained closed, but faint laughter could be heard from within at her comment.

She pursed her lips, annoyed, but prepared to knock again. However, Pawn stopped her.

"Here, knock with this," said the celestial as she handed something to the demon, "careful though, it's sharp."

Ash looked at the spear she had been given, and then promptly attempted to slash the door with it. There was simply no resistance. The door was sliced diagonally in two.

The door collapsed, revealing the room behind it. It was a small reception area with four entrances, three doors, along the near, far, and the wall at Pawn's left, and a stair case to the next floor at her right.

In the far right corner of the room sat an obese man with scrawny limbs and light blue eyes. He sat at a desk covered with bags of demonic coins, mostly copper and silver. At his side stood a butler with spectacles, short grey hair, and an overly large nose, his eyes were grey, as well. Both wore suits, though one clearly wore it better than the other.

The moment the door had been destroyed the butler drew a rapier from the sheath at his waist and stepped in the front of the sitting man to guard him.

In response, Ash did the same for Pawn, the spear as her weapon.

There was a short silence before Pawn spoke.

"We did knock," she said to the room's occupants, "Greetings, I've come for a surprise inspection."

The large man raised a single brow, not looking even remotely impressed.

"I am District Magistrate Barton!" He declared.

"Inspection, bah, on who's authority!? I work directly under the district lord!" He scoffed.

Pawn sighed and showed the man her ring, causing him narrow his eyes at her, and the man's subordinate to immediately sheath his blade.

"As my esteemed colleague said earlier, I am the district lord," she stated.

The was a moment of silence, which the man eventually broke.

"Fine. And why is this the first I'm hearing of this 'surprise inspection?'" He inquired sarcastically.

All but himself cringed, slightly, at the stupidity of his comment.

Pawn turned to address Ash instead of giving the question a reply.

"Ash, could you please read out the list of 'issues' which Mr 'District Magistrate Barton' will be taking full responsibility for," she pleaded, and Ash did just that.

"Rampant gang activity, overpriced housing, smugglers, loan sharks, drug dealers, unemployment rates, food shortage, misappropriated funds, envy demon assassins, political corruption, wild demon attacks-."

Pawn peeked at the list over Ash's shoulder. She wasn't even halfway through reading it.

'Wow... pretty bleak-looking, eh?' Thought the celestial, in regards to both her district... and Barton's future.